1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally relates to upholstery seams, and more particularly, relates to an upholstery seam for use in an automotive seat wherein multiple or two or more pieces of material are joined by a monofilament thread.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the prior art of automotive vehicles to provide an airbag assembly for protection of a vehicle occupant. These prior art airbag assemblies typically are deployed from in front of a person or from a seat or roof line of an automotive vehicle. The airbags generally include an inflatable cushion structure in communication with a gas emitting inflator. When predetermined vehicle conditions occur an airbag cushion is deployed outwardly from its stored position in a dashboard, roof or seat into a position between the occupant and the interior portions of a vehicle against which the occupant might otherwise come in contact with. The use of the airbag cushion between the occupant and interior portions of the vehicle will provide a cushioning effect for the occupant against hard impacts with the interior portions of the vehicle.
Many prior art airbag systems for use in motor vehicles will have an airbag arranged within a seat. This type of airbag will generally deploy through a molded plastic cover or a sewn seam in a cover material on the seat. Many of these prior art seat airbags penetrate the seat cover by tearing open a sewn seam in the seat cover. However, there have been deficiencies in the prior art with such systems, i.e., ballooning of the seat cover may sometimes occur prior to failure of the seam, which may increase the amount of time required for the airbag to exit the seat and could result in delayed positioning of the airbag with relation to the occupant during a crash event. Furthermore, there also have been problems with the prior art seat airbags in that the seat cover material may include flaws such as holes, tears, snags, rips, etc., that may serve as potential exit points for the airbag and allow for the airbag to deploy in a unsafe manner and not offer the protection desired by the occupant of the automotive vehicle. However, many of these prior art seat airbag side impact assemblies have generally been useful in the protection of occupants, and especially provide useful in the protection against head and torso injuries.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved seat side airbag seam that tears more quickly and easily and has a more consistent and complete tear along the seam. There also is a need in the art for a seam that can have its tear characteristics adjusted and tunable to specific applications within a vehicle environment. There also is a need in the art for an improved design and more efficient methodology of tearing the seam during an airbag deployment from a seat to ensure full deployment of the airbag in a crash situation.